Bowl games bring big money to metro Phoenix

PHOENIX — In about a month, the Valley will be filled with Ducks, Wildcats, Spartans and Horned Frogs.

Fans who will be flying in for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl are expected to generate big tourism dollars.

“In the last five years, that number has been over a billion dollars,” said Robert Shelton, executive director of the Fiesta Bowl. “Each year you’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars coming into the Valley of the Sun.”

Resorts, hotels and restaurants receive a big chunk of that money but Shelton said it’s the mom-and-pop shops that benefit, too.

“People come out here and they spend a number of days. They don’t just fly in and fly out,” Shelton said “It’s a game where people come and spend four, five, six days a week or more.”

Fourth-ranked Oregon will face No. 5 Kansas State at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale on Jan. 3.

On Dec. 29, Tempe will host the newly sponsored Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe between Michigan State and Texas Christian.